Design Notes
The five brand colours: Grey [cccccc], Green [39b54a], Blue [29abe2], Purple [7f47dd], and Red [ff0000].
These colours would be applied only to the interface/control surfaces of the heater, giving users obvious semantic cues. For users building a stack/series, it gives them options for mixing and matching colours
Brand typefaces: Futura Lt BT, Futura Md BT, Futura Bold
The heater may seem small, however, its size is not indicative of its power. Thanks to the properties of infrared heat (i.e. not needing airflow) the final product doesn’t have to be large to be effective. Efficacy is based on range, which is why the most commonly seen infrared heaters (e.g. the bar heaters mounted on ceilings) are larger because they have to "push heat" relatively long distances.
Technical Notes
The science behind wireless charging (GA #6): Wrap a wire around a magnet, run a current through that wire and you can change the behaviour of the magnet (i.e. its magnetic field) by changing the current. Much like how morse code works by interrupting radio waves, changes in a magnetic field (i.e. magnetic flux) are capable of sending/receiving
information and energy.
The science behind infrared heating: Anything that produces heat also produces energy emitted on the infrared spectrum. Infrared heaters just emit most of their energy on the infrared spectrum. This means a transfer of energy between a heating element and air isn’t necessary, because the wavelengths of infrared heat allow it to be absorbed by objects directly (water being among the best absorbers of this kind of energy). Think of how standing in the sun warms you up; the effect of an infrared heater on a person is the same.
ABS and PS were chosen as materials because of their working heat capacities (82° and 100° respectively), so while the heater will inevitably heat up surrounding components, it won’t break/fail when in use.
All plastic parts have 1-2° of draft, with wall thicknesses ranging from 2-5mm. This provides durability, ensuring the heater can survive a few drops.
The tip-over switch was designed to work at both 0° and 30° angles (GA #13).
The hinges connecting the back control panel to the body of the heater would be hollow, which accommodates the necessary wiring components.
All screw bosses were sized to fit #3 socket cap screws (because they’re better than Philips when torque is applied,
i.e. they don’t strip nearly as easily).
(side profile)